A new book by a leading Nordic social democrat should be top of the Labour Party’s reading list, writes Dan O’Brien

Most readers of these pages have an interest in politics. Most readers will also know a thing or two about the politics of big countries that are important to Ireland – Britain, the US and, more recently, Germany.

But the political dynamics of big countries are different from those of a small country like Ireland. Getting a deep insight into the politics of peer countries – the arc of smaller nations from the Netherlands to Finland – is not easy for a number of reasons, with the language barrier being perhaps the greatest obstacle.

Yet understanding the politics of other similar countries helps us understand our own. What is different and what is similar gives us another dimension when we think about how our own country works.

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